may be said to be slowly declining, though as yet
there is little outward trace of its decay to be seen. Edessa was lost,
however, in the year after Baldwin's accession, and the conquest by Zengi
of this farthest and most important outpost in northern Syria was already a
serious blow to the kingdom. Upon it in 1147 there followed the second
crusade; and in that crusade Baldwin III., now some eighteen years of age,
played his part by the side of Conrad III. and Louis VII. He received them
in Jerusalem in 1148; with them he planned the attack on Damascus and with
them he signally failed in the attack. In 1149, after the failure of the
crusade, Baldwin III. appeared in Antioch, where the fall of Raymund, the
husband of the princess Constance, made his presence necessary. He
regulated affairs in Antioch, and tried to strengthen the north of
Palestine generally against the arm of Zengi's successor, Nureddin, by
renewing the old and politic alliance with Damascus interrupted since 1147,
and by ceding Tellbashir, the one remnant of the county of Edessa, to
Manuel of Constantinople. In 1152 came the inevitable struggle between the
young king and his mother, who had ruled with wisdom and vigour during the
regency and was unwilling to lay down the reins of power. Baldwin
originally planned a solemn coronation, as the signal of his emancipation.
Dissuaded from that course, he nevertheless wore his crown publicly in the
church of the Sepulchre. A struggle followed: in the issue, Baldwin agreed
to leave his mother in possession of Jerusalem and Nablus, while he
retained Acre and Tyre for himself. But he repented of the bargain; and a
new struggle began, in which Baldwin recovered, after some fighting, the
possession of his capital. From these internal dissensions Baldwin was now
summoned to the north, to regulate anew the affairs of Antioch and also
those of Tripoli, where the death of Count Raymund had thrown on his
shoulders the cares of a second regency. On his return to Jerusalem he was
successful in repelling an attack by an army of Turcomans; and his success
encouraged him to attempt the siege of Ascalon in the spring of 1153. He
was successful: the "bride of Syria," which had all but become the property
of the crusaders in 1099, but had since defied the arms of the Franks for
half a century, became part of the kingdom of Jerusalem. From 1156 to 1158
Baldwin was occupied in hostilities with Nureddin. In 1156 he had to submit
to a